11th graders facing new state test

Keystone exam will replace PSSA for high school juniors.

As a new year starts, some students will be preparing to take a new exam to determine whether school districts are making adequate yearly progress toward the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Instead of taking the PSSA, all 11th grade students will be required to take the Keystone exams. Students will be tested in algebra 1, literature and biology, taking two modules for each of the three subjects for a total of six tests are given.

Students currently enrolled in algebra 1, literature or biology, no matter what their grade level, are also required to take the corresponding Keystone exam.

Although passing the test is not a graduation requirement for students until the class of 2017, this year's scores will be used to determine whether a district is making adequate yearly progress.

However, administrators are concerned that the Keystone exams will not accurately reflect the students' progress because some will be tested on subjects they haven't studied in months or even years.

In several school districts in the Hanover-Adams County area, including Gettysburg Area High School, most students take biology in 10th grade, said Christine Lay, assistant superintendent of the Gettysburg Area School District. With the Keystone exam, students are being tested on material they have not studied since they completed the course six months ago, Lay said.

The same is true for the Keystone math exam since some students took algebra 1 in eighth or ninth grade, she said.

"It's one of those things," Lay said.

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"What you don't use, typically you lose."

The districts have been doing different things to make sure their students are as prepared as possible for the test. Some have devoted class time to review sessions, while others have redone students' schedules to create extra time specifically for Keystone preparation. Some students also have the opportunity to meet with teachers before or after school.

The goal is to revisit the material and give students the opportunity to do their best while taking the exams, said Kevin Thomas, principal of New Oxford High School.

But, Thomas added, "There's no way to cover (the material) as in-depth as we'd like."

Walter Graves, the principal of South Western High School, acknowledges that a lot of 11th grade students in Pennsylvania are in the same boat.

"The state is in transition right now," Graves said. "To go from the PSSA to the Keystone is a challenge for every high school in the state."

Before this year, students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11, took the PSSA to measure whether a district is making adequate yearly progress toward the goals of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which asks for 100 percent proficiency in math and science by 2014, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education website. This summer, the department announced the Keystones would replace the PSSAs for 11th graders.

For a district to make adequate yearly progress, its schools must reach target goals for the PSSA and Keystone exams as well as targets for attendance, graduation and test preparation. Gettysburg Area High School and Littlestown Senior High School were the only high schools in the Hanover-Adams area to make adequate yearly progress in the 2011-12 school year, according to the Department of Education the website.

The difference between the two exams is that the Keystone is a course specific test while the PSSA covers a broad spectrum of skills and concepts.

Graves said he thinks a course-specific test is more rigorous because students have to know the subject in greater detail.

"They have to be able to apply what they're learning to greater depth," he said.
Even though administrators are concerned about the test results for this year, some believe that the new exam will be better in the long run.

Joel Hain, the principal of Hanover High School, said that when the exam tests students directly after they have taken a Keystone-related course, he thinks the results will be more accurate.

"In the end, it will be a better test than the PSSA ever was," Hain said.

School districts could chose one of three time periods, or waves, to administer the Keystones throughout the academic year. However, the Department of Education strongly encouraged schools to test during one of the two winter waves, so that students who did not pass the exams in December or January could have the opportunity to retake them in the spring, she said.

Some schools gave the exam in December, the first winter wave, because they wanted students to take the test as soon as possible. Biglerville High School tested students in all three subjects and Littlestown Senior High School tested in literature and biology.

Most high schools in the Hanover-Adams County area will be testing their students in at least one Keystone exam subject during the second winter wave, which starts Jan. 9. All testing must be completed by Jan. 23.